Namine is sick again

Last night we saw some crusties around Namine’s right ear. No active drainage, but crusties (Give me a break. what word would you use?) are enough of an indication of an infection. So Jessica and my mom took Namine to see her pediatrician this morning.

Last night we saw some crusties around Namine’s right ear. No active drainage, but crusties (Give me a break. what word would you use?) are enough of an indication of an infection. So Jessica and my mom took Namine to see her pediatrician this morning.

The doctor confirmed that Namine does have an infection in her right ear. She prescribed some eardrops, so from here it’s pretty much just giving Namine the eardrops and waiting it out.

This morning, Namine also started coughing up thick, green mucus out of her stoma. Now, we’re not sure what might have caused this. When she had her stoma infection a little while back, there were several indicators that she was sick. She was lethargic and pale, and she didn’t eat much and threw up what little she did eat; her heart rate was up (in the 160-170 range), and she had difficulty maintaining an oxygen saturation rate of higher than 80.

This time, however, she’s playful and active, her color is good, her appetite is alive and well (even this morning she ate a decently-sized breakfast), her heart rate is in the 120 range (normal for her), and her O2, when Jessica checked it, was 92. So we don’t believe we’re dealing with another infection in her stoma. We suspect one of two possible culprits: allergies or drainage.

Personally, I have my money on drainage. Or I would, if I were a bettin’ man. Last night, we didn’t see any active drainage. But today, she’s got liquid drainage actually coming out of her ear. Gross, you might say, but this is a good thing. This means the tube in her ear is doing its job, and it’s getting the infection out. This, combined with the ear drops, should speed up the time in which she’ll get over the infection. That’s why they put the tubes in her ears for, anyway.

But as I was saying, I think it’s just drainage. To rely on my own experience: last time I had an ear infection, I had drainage going down my throat and out my nose, and it was all very lovely. But all I had was really just an ear infection. (A bad one, sure, but that was all.) Once that cleared up, all my stuffiness and hacking up mucus went away. I think we’ve basically got the same thing here. If I’m wrong, well, then I’m wrong. But even the pediatrician said that Namine isn’t acting sick.